Meet The Team

Sylvia Brinded - Püls

Founder and manager

  • Manager

    Partner for children

    Mentor for parents

  • I was born and raised in Germany. My father is German and my mother from Peru.
    I left my home country at the age of 20 and live in Madeira since 2022 with my beautiful family, Rob, Lima and Bo.

    I have a Bachelor in Fitness Economics, have worked as a gym manager, personal trainer, life coach and had my own online business before I had kids. Since then I’ve dedicated all my time to being a full time mom and am now creating a place for families to flourish in freedom.

  • Managing APTB, helping kids and parents out when needed.

    Playing volleyball, badminton, chase, hide and seek

    Crafting, woodwork, working out, reading, relaxing in the sun

  • German

    Spanish

    English

    Portuguese

  • “Schools are inefficient, damaging and a waste of time. “

    ― Sylvia Brinded-Puls

    “Don't believe every thing you think.”

    ― Byron Katie

  • info@aplacetobe.me

Rob Brinded

Mentor for parents

  • Mentor for parents

  • I’m a Mind-Body Specialist and over the past 25 years, I’ve worked with professional sports people, world-class entertainers, entrepreneurs, and corporate executives who need to perform at their peak, on demand.

    I now enjoy working with people from all walks of life who are seeking answers as to why they feel stuck or unhappy in life, or why they are ill or in pain.

    Author of Decentralising the Mind

  • Exploring hamster wheels with parents.

    Barbecues

  • English

    French

    Spanish

  • “To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders”

    — LAO TZU

  • https://www.robbrinded.com/

    https://twitter.com/robbrinded

Magdalena Loch

Partner

  • Educational partner

  • I worked as an English Teacher in a Further Education college in London for 11 years. Together with my family and our cat, we travelled Europe in a motorhome for a year while world schooling our 2 sons. I am currently unschooling myself.

  • facilitating child -led learning, growing fruit and vegetables, rearing animals and indulging in arts and crafts.

  • Polish

    English

    Basic German and Spanish

  • Everything you want is on the other side of fear.

  • coming soon

Alex Walkarz

CBO & CPS

  • CBO - chief building officer and

    CPS - chief problem solver

  • Schooled in music so spent a decade working in construction... From domestic refurbishments, conversions and extensions through to commercial electrical installations and building automation.

    Linux user since redhat 4.2.

    I enjoy walking, cycling, running, sailing and talking about bitcoin.

  • Moving dirt, pouring concrete, laying cables, cutting wood, tinkering with stuff.

  • Polish

    English

    Bit of German and starting to learn Portuguese

  • No one ever died of... (insert anything you want to complain about)

  • coming soon

Mohammed Alshiekh

Partner

  • Partner for the children in the domains of Engineering, AI and Software Development

  • My background is in various engineering roles. My background spans Electrical and electronics engineering, systems engineering, AI and data science.

    Having worked in government, academia, corporate and startups doing all sorts of engineering activities I have a strong sense of the role that engineering and high tech plays in society.

  • Talking to kids and parents about technology, sometimes about the nitty gritty details of a certain technology, and other times about what technology means for the world at large.

    I will also be doing educational activities with the kids, helping them with their projects and answering their questions.

  • Arabic

    English

  • "The Master doesn't talk, he acts.

    When his work is done, the people say, "Amazing, we did it all by ourselves!"

    - Lao Tzu

    "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

    - Benjamin Franklin

    “Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible."

    - Richard Feynman

    "Physics isn't the most important thing. Love is."

    - Richard Feynman

  • Mohammed.alashiekh@gmail.com

Annie Liu

Partner

  • Partner for children in general.

    I'm a people person, and one of my greatest strengths is being fully present with others. I naturally allow children to explore independently without intervening in their activities.

  • I'm a homeschooling mother of two, teaching my 3 and 9-year-old children.

    We enjoy spending our days under and solving math problems through playful activities.

  • I love helping others and connecting with like-minded individuals.

  • Chinese

    English

    Finnish

  • Diligence can make up for a lack of natural talent.

  • Facebook: annieliucn

Georgia Doga-Kapsali

Partner

  • Partner for children

    My name is Georgia Doga-Kapsali, one of the teachers at the ‘A Place to Be’.

    I firmly believe that education is transformative and can change lives, and I am dedicated to work towards developing skills for the children to thrive in an ever-changing world. I have experience working in schools as a teacher and developing lesson plans that meet learners’ needs. I am determined to communicate with children and help them express their creativity.

    Learning about A.S. Neill and his philosophy was pivotal for me and made me want to be part of freedom-based education.

  • Prior to APTB I taught in Greece, Spain and Sweden as an English teacher.

    I have a bachelor degree as a Primary school Teacher from University of Crete

    And a MA in International and Comparative Education from the Stockholm University.

    As a young adult I started being interested in Summerhill principles and freedom-based education and I never stopped after that. It intrigued me how Summerhill tries to make the children happy human beings.

    I love playing football, running, playing racket sports.

    I am currently expanding my language skills in German and learning Portuguese to communicate better with people in Madeira. I am also excited to participate in a seminar that Summerhill provides called ‘The role of the adult in facilitating a happy and fulfilled childhood’.

  • As a facilitator at ‘A Place to Be’ I will work with the children in small groups and help them to have a fulfilled childhood.

    I am committed to

    - let the children play, explore and become in charge of themselves
    - follow the children’s needs and help them to hone their interests
    - help the children develop lifelong learning skills
    - treat the kids with kindness and respect
    - respect the kids’ needs and emotions
    - be sincere about my knowledge and feelings
    - help the children to integrate in a freedom-based school after coming from a conventional school system.

  • Greek

    English

    Spanish

    Swedish

    Some German

  • “The function of a child is to live his/her own life, not the life that his/her anxious parents think he/she should live, nor a life according to the purpose of the educators who thinks they knows best” ― A.S. Neill

  • geodoga@yahoo.gr
    +306970886920

Want to work at APTB?

Partner

  • What’s a passion you’d like to share with kids?

  • Tell us about yourself… your story!

  • How do you imagine contributing at APTB?

  • Which languages do you speak?

  • What insprires you?

  • Your social media account

John King

CFO

  • Financial consultant

  • After 10 years working as European Finance Director for L'Oreal and then 20 years as worldwide Finance Director for the Classical and Jazz division of EMI Music I took early retirement to restore an old stone house in France, where I have lived for the past 12 years. I wanted to work with my hands. Having visited Sylvia (my niece) for a week in January 2024 to help her with the business plan for APTB, I fell in love with Madeira and plan to move over there during 2024.

  • Well, I thought I had retired ! ....... but Slyvia is family so I plan to help her with finance and administration for APTB ...... invoicing customers, paying wages and suppliers, business forecasting and cash control. Maybe there will be a little time left to enjoy the wonderfull Madeira climate and scenery. Anyway, the work will keep me occupied and hopefully stop me getting senile too quickly 🤪

  • English

    French

  • Having read The Road Less Traveled my mantra is Awareness, Acceptance, Grace

  • info@aplacetobe.me

Liam Hanlon

Advisor

  • Advisor

    Facilitator of survival workshops

  • Life-long participant and enjoyment in Sport & Adventure.

    Successful businessman, committed to youth development, community, and charity.

    Many years of connection with the construction Industry , Amateur Boxing, Royal Marines and over twenty years of amazing tri-4-life team ultra-endurance adventures all over the world.

    Proud family with wife Debbie, Daughters Kiera & Caitlin and two grandchildren Oscar & Daisy.

  • Sharing my thoughts, ideas & philosophies.

    Teaching, Motivating & Inspiring the next generation in preparation for an evolving world,

    through my diverse challenges and experiences in business, adventures, and life.

  • English

  • ‘Live the life you love’.

    ‘I feel Good’.

    ‘Don’t Give up ‘till It’s Over’.

More facilitators to come soon